Bullying Claimed A Life As An Indian-Origin Boy Committed Suicide After Being Bullied By 'Friends'

What is bullying? When does mocking become bullying? Do bullies even realise they are causing immense mental harm to the person they are bullying? Sometimes what seems harmless at first, gradually gets ugly and hurtful. Sometimes, people don’t even realise their ill-placed jokes could do irreversible damage to the victim, especially at a young age.

“Be strong”, “Don’t be such a crybaby”, “Face them like a man”, “You are so weak; just get over it” – these are the most common reactions to someone being bullied. Surprisingly, bullying doesn’t arouse anger in most people, it makes them pity the victim. The bully automatically becomes the ‘stronger’ person and the victim a ‘weakling’.

Brandon Singh Rayat, a 15-year-old boy of Indian origin, killed himself after being bullied by his school mates for 16 months. His 44-year-old mother, Mina, has spoken about the tragedy during UK’s Anti-Bullying week.

His friends at school had been bullying him, calling him a ‘paedo’ and a ‘faggot’. They even mocked him with a fake Jimmy Savile (the TV presenter who was found out to be paedophile) Facebook page. "Those boys who were his friends once have killed him. They have taken his life away and they have ruined our lives,” his 44-year-old mother, Mina, said.

The boy had been in extreme psychological distress for months and had become suicidal. His parents sought medical help for him and it was found that he was suffering from "acute stress reaction in the context of bullying".

Mina reported the bullying to his teachers at Judgemeadow Community College in Leicester and named the bullies too but says the school authorities did not take it seriously and said that her son was being paranoid. Ultimately, the boy stopped attending school altogether. “We feel totally let down, by both the school and by the doctors,” Mina said.

Perhaps, the biggest mistake the society makes in dealing with bullying is underestimating it. Humiliation by peers can give rise to low self-esteem and under-confidence, and in extreme case, suicidal thoughts. It is a crime then at the part of parents/ school authorities/ society to underestimate the gravity of the situation.

Brandon’s mother said, "It got worse and worse over the next few months. He tried going back to school after the summer break, but they even bullied him on his birthday on September 15.”

Most bullies do it for the thrill, for the ego boost. Nothing gives them a better high than watching someone squirm at their cruel joke. Often, it has nothing to do with the person being bullied. If checked at the right moment, it can not only help the person being bullied but it will also enable the bully to self-introspect and figure out what’s wrong with their behaviour.

Next time, when you see someone being bullied, intervene. Don’t stay quiet. Raise your voice, raise an alarm, help the person being bullied. Because it’s not okay to bully someone in the name of harmless fun.